Here is an easy and fun way to use your freshly picked concord grapes. Canning can be rewarding and a fun thing for the whole family.
Ingredients
- 4 qt stemmed concord grapes
- 1 qt water
- 1 cup sugar
Wash grapes thoroughly and add to a large stock pot. Add the water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 20-30 minutes. Using a potato masher, crush the grapes as they cook down. After most of the grapes have cooked down, it is time to strain them. Use a mess strainer/seive and a tea towel or two and hang over another stock pot so the juice flows into the new pot. You can also use a milk bag to strain this if you wish. Ladle the hot grape mixture into the towel covered strainer and let this strain through. Use the potato masher to help things along. The pulp left in the tea towel should be very dry and most of the juice squeezed out. When all the grape mixture has been strained let the juice set for a little to let any leftover sediment settle to the bottom of the pot. Then strain again using the same technique as the first round of straining. Bring the juice back up to a simmer and add the sugar. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, and the mixture is hot, around 180 degrees. Add to hot jars and process in a water-bath canner for 10 minutes for quarts and 20 minutes for half gallons. This makes about four quarts.
Pictured below are a few of the beautiful jars of juice we preserved this year. I quadrupled this recipe because we had 67lbs of grapes to process. I love these half gallon balls jars for preserving large batches of juice. For this and all the grape canning recipes I have listed on my website, I have used cane sugar. I have had no problem canning with cane sugar and cannot tell a difference with the taste. If you prefer to use white sugar, the recipe remains the same. This is a concentrate, so these half gallons make a gallon of juice, and we usually go through this quickly at my house. We purchased these grapes while in Geneva, Ohio. You can read about our Camping with a Purpose trip and see the beautiful vineyard we stopped at as well as the amazing state park where we camped. I hope you enjoy this recipe and Bon Appetit!
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